


A Waltz for a Night

by rebeccavis



Category: Gossip Girl
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Inspired by a Movie, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2015-12-18
Packaged: 2018-05-07 08:26:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5449952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebeccavis/pseuds/rebeccavis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU based on the movie Before Sunrise. Dan Humphrey and Blair Waldorf meet for the very first time on a train on the way to Paris.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lyon to Paris

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfic was written back in 2012 at the height of my Dair obsession and is based on my favourite film, _Before Sunrise_. Up until now it was only up on Fanfiction.Net and, although my ability to write for Dan and Blair more or less died after the Season 5 finale, I am still very proud of this story and wanted to share it over here on AO3. I hope you enjoy and comments are always very much appreciated!

In the ideal movie of Blair Waldorf’s life, the beautiful scenery outside her window would have a musical accompaniment as it rushed past while she sat comfortably in her seat in First Class. It might perhaps be a romantic French song and probably something from the 80s, easily her favourite decade in music. It would most likely have lyrics that reflected her state of mind, and a steady beat which would almost match the rhythm of the train speeding along on its way to its destination. It would definitely not, however, be anything even remotely resembling the sound of a screaming baby.

She had tried everything she could to block it out. In the beginning it had been relatively quiet and she had been able to distract herself by burying her nose in the copy of _Jane Eyre_ she had brought along with her, but that tactic hadn’t worked for very long. The baby’s crying had only gotten louder and louder and she’d had to resort to putting her headphones in her ears and switching on her music player in hopes of providing her own ideal soundtrack to her journey. The shrill sound of the baby seemed to be capable of piercing even Pat Benatar’s dulcet tones, however, and she found herself incapable of thinking about anything apart from how incompetent the baby’s mother was for not being able to console her child. Her patience was dwindling fast and when not even Cyndi Lauper was enough to drown out the noise, Blair decided it was the last straw. She sat up straight and delicately removed one ear bud and then the other, storing her music player in her handbag as she stood to her feet. After smoothing down the slight creases in her skirt, she stepped out into the aisle between seats and made her way to the end of the carriage, shooting a glare along the way at the mother of the baby as she finally put a face to the horrible sound that had been disturbing her. The bar car at present seemed like a very good option.

Blair was less than amused by the irony of the fact that she had been sitting in what was supposed to be the quiet car and yet it was quieter outside it than inside, despite the fact that the train was pretty full. On her way through the train to the bar, she walked past a few empty seats – and one containing nothing but a coat and an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel – but she also walked past many people, including a couple sharing a kiss and a woman sitting in dark sunglasses who looked as if she was still regretting the previous night. The atmosphere in the other cars just seemed peaceful, and there was even a man who’d fallen asleep leaning against the window. Blair continued on through and eventually found herself at the bar, which looked like it was just beginning to get lively now that the day was slipping into late afternoon. She took a seat on her own, two seats away from a couple of women who were talking to each other in hushed tones in French and one seat away from a man of around her age with dark hair and brown eyes who appeared to be staring at his glass of beer. She could tell almost immediately from his choice of clothing that he wasn’t European, and she had a strong suspicion he might be American.

Before she’d even had the chance to order herself a drink, Blair heard an all-too familiar noise and for a brief moment she was worried that the sound had just been etched into her brain from the repeated exposure she’d had from it only a few minutes ago. It turned out, however, that much to her distaste the mother with the screaming baby had in fact followed after her and was now making her way past the bar with her baby still screaming at the top of its lungs. Blair rolled her eyes and took a deep breath but thankfully, just as she found herself seriously contemplating asking around to see if anyone had a pair of earplugs, the woman walked through the other door of the car and continued on her way. It seemed as though she was just passing by.

“Some people really shouldn’t procreate,” she muttered, shaking her head slightly. She was a little surprised to hear the sound of a chuckle and turned her head as she realised it had come from the man sitting next to her, who was no longer staring at his drink.

“I think that statement might raise a few eyebrows,” he commented, glancing up at her with a small smile on his face. He accent gave away that he was most definitely as American as she had suspected.

“That doesn’t make it any less true,” Blair responded bluntly, “The world population really doesn’t need to keep growing and parents who have no idea what they’re doing really shouldn’t be helping it along.”

“Well, over here things aren’t so bad,” the man pointed out, “Doesn’t Germany have a negative population growth or something? And France I’m sure is growing a lot more slowly than the United States.”

“Well, we have a lot less space over here,” Blair noted, tilting her head at him, “Although in the United States it might also help matters if there weren’t people in government waging war on women’s reproductive rights.”

“I sometimes wonder if some people in government don’t feel it’s their job to wage war on the wrong things,” he commented, earning him a smile from Blair. His eyes remained on her as she turned away from him and towards the bartender to order herself a drink.

“I’m no expert, but that sounded pretty fluent for an American,” he spoke up again before extending his hand towards her, “I’m Dan, by the way. Dan Humphrey.”

“I’ve had a lot of practice,” Blair responded, smiling again. She reached out and firmly shook the hand that had been offered to her as she added, “I’m Blair. So what brings you to Europe, Dan Humphrey?”

“Oh, you know, the usual story. Mostly looking just for inspiration. Secretly hoping that I’ll ‘find myself’...whatever that means,” Dan replied with a wry smile of his own, “I’m actually coming from Rome. I had some...stuff going on in my life and my dad decided that the perfect antidote would be to visit Europe for the first time, so he got me the plane tickets for my birthday. How about you?”

“I’m on my way home. I live in Paris,” Blair explained, “But my dad also has a house near Lyon and I just needed to get away for a little while. I guess I was looking for some inspiration myself.” She paused for a moment before raising her eyebrows at him and asking, “So...who’s the girl?”

Dan let out a gentle laugh. “How did you know?” he questioned.

“I just had a hunch,” Blair responded with a grin, “What happened? Did she break up with you?”

“Sort of,” Dan admitted, “We’d been dating since we were sixteen, but there just wasn’t....I don’t know. We’d been best friends since we were little before we started dating, and I guess after we got together I never really felt that spark I’d expected to feel. I kept trying to tell myself that I was in a stable relationship with someone I cared about and that everything was fine, but I guess I didn’t want to admit I wanted more than that. Then I got into college and we were living in different places and we tried the whole long-distance thing but...I guess she wanted more too because when I tried to surprise her one weekend I ended up finding her with someone else.”

“Wow,” Blair commented, having raised her eyebrows again at Dan’s story, “I, um...I actually dated someone for a long time who I’d known since I was a kid, too, and I found out – eventually – that he cheated on me with my best friend, who by that time had moved away and I never ended up speaking to again. At the time I didn’t want to admit it, but now when I look back I think there was definitely something missing. I don’t know...I have all these different thoughts about what love should be, but I definitely think it has to be based on a lot more than just having grown up together. Then I look at the example I’ve had from my parents – divorced, both happy but not with each other – and wonder if I know anything about love at all.”

“Tell me about it. My dad’s divorced and since my mom he’s never really had any serious relationships, but there’s this one woman he sometimes talks about,” Dan said, leaning in ever so slightly closer to Blair, “He met her back in the days when he was in a band and it’s like he’s never been able to forget her. I mean, mostly I think it’s a shame because obviously they never ended up together, but there’s this part of me that kind of hopes that I’ll love like that someday. And if I don’t, I think I’ll have really missed out on something. I don’t know if that even makes any sense.”

“I think it does. But I don’t know if I believe everyone gets to experience that kind of love,” Blair mused. Her drink had arrived and she was sipping on it elegantly as she continued to speak. “I think few people are lucky enough to have that happen to them, and even fewer get the opportunity to actually spend their lives with the person they feel that way about,” she continued, “I always try to believe in the _possibility_ of it and it is a big world, but we only meet a small fraction of all the people out there in our lifetime. Realistically, how likely are you to meet someone who you have a connection with? Whose flaws you can live with and who can live with all your flaws? I figure that at my age at least I’m lucky to have time on my side.”

It took both of the two people sitting together at the bar a good few seconds before they realised an announcement was being made on the train, and they both fell silent to listen. Dan didn’t know all that much French, but he was able to distinguish the word ‘Paris’ and could deduce that they were being told they were approaching the destination of the train.

“I didn’t realise we were so close,” he commented as the announcement finished, his mouth twisting slightly.

“Neither did I,” Blair admitted quietly. A pause lingered between them for a moment before she ventured, “So are you staying for a little while in Paris?”

“Not really. I have a flight late tonight,” Dan explained, “It was cheaper to get the train and fly from Paris for some insane reason, so I thought I’d make the most of it and do a little sightseeing for a few hours before I went home.”

“Good luck with that. You can’t possibly appreciate Paris in only a few hours,” Blair said, shaking her head derisively. She finished off the last of her drink and slowly put the glass back down on the bar before glancing at Dan. “I guess I should go back to my seat and get my things,” she commented, standing up from her seat.

“Of course,” Dan replied, meeting Blair’s eyes for a moment as he admitted in an almost surprised tone, “It was...really good talking to you, Blair.”

“You too,” Blair admitted, sounding equally surprised, “Goodbye, Dan.” Her gaze lingered on his for a few seconds longer before she forced herself to turn away and headed in the direction of the door between carriages.

The screaming baby from before seemed to have disappeared elsewhere and was gone completely from Blair’s mind as she made her way back to First Class. Instead, all while making her way through the train and even as she took her bag from where she’d stored it and double-checked to make sure she had everything, she found herself thinking back to the guy at the bar. She wasn’t even entirely sure how they’d even ended up talking in the first place, but even stranger to her was the feeling of wishing that the conversation had never ended.

It wasn’t very long before the train was pulling up at Gare de Lyon in Paris, France, and Blair’s high heels were stepping down onto the crowded platform. All around her parents were embracing their children and lovers were embracing their significant others, while Blair stood alone clutching her suitcase and debating whether to call her father or get a cab home. Her gaze ended up drifting to the people still emerging from the train and amidst all of them she caught sight of one particular individual, her lips partly slightly as he also noticed her. He gave her a small, shy wave and a smile and she found herself waving and smiling back seemingly of her own accord. Before she had too much time to think about it, Blair was crossing the platform and making her way towards him. Dan Humphrey, meanwhile, was furrowing his brow at her and looking very confused.

“Hello again,” he said, still apparently in slight disbelief, “Is everything OK?”

“Everything’s fine. You said you only have a few hours to spend in Paris, right?” Blair questioned, “The only way you’re going to see what needs to be seen in this city in that amount of time is with a guide who knows it well.”

“That sounds very good to me. Do you happen to know where I can find one?” Dan ventured, raising his eyebrows and smiling at her.

“Hilarious, Humphrey,” Blair commented, rolling her eyes at him, “You’re lucky I don’t have any time commitments for the day. Come on, let’s find somewhere to store our luggage for now.”

Dan opened his mouth to say something, but he was having trouble finding the right words and instead settled for offering his hand to carry her bag for her. He had already been preparing himself to write off Blair as the enigmatic girl on the train he’d had an all too short conversation with and never seen again, but all of a sudden she had returned to his reality and was offering to show him around Paris. It was the kind of thing that only occurred in movies and novels, and decidedly _not_ the kind of thing that occurred in the life of Dan Humphrey of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City. Blair seemed to know where she was going so for the moment he thought it best to just follow after her, still looking as if he wasn’t entirely sure what had just happened.


	2. The Louvre

Blair Waldorf was getting impatient. Standing where she was just behind a large group of tourists, her gaze kept drifting between the painting protected by glass in front of them and the man standing next to her. She was shorter than him even in her heels so she had to tilt her head upwards a little to see his facial expression, but even then she still couldn’t tell what was going through his mind. Another minute or so went by as he remained in silence and Blair’s curiosity soon got the best of her. “Well?” she ventured, turning to glance at him.

“It’s...smaller than I thought it would be,” Dan Humphrey concluded. He tilted his head a few times whilst still staring at the painting before he too turned to look at Blair.

“That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say?” Blair questioned, her brow furrowing, “It’s the _Mona Lisa_.”

Dan gave a small chuckle. “I know, I know,” he acknowledged, “No, I mean - it _is_ amazing. I didn’t really think I’d ever see _the_ Mona Lisa in real life.”

“But...?” Blair said, adding when Dan looked confused, “I sensed a ‘but’ coming on.”

“But...” Dan conceded, “I don’t know...I think I just prefer artwork that I feel like I can connect with on some emotional level, whether it’s a famous piece or not. While this is impressive and a must-see, obviously, it’s kind of hard to talk about a painting about which pretty much everything has already been said.” 

Blair’s brow furrowed again, however this time she seemed more intrigued than frustrated. She looked as if she might be about to ask a question, but she ultimately decided against it and instead turned on her heel to walk away from the painting. “Come on, we’d better get moving. You don’t have a lot of time before you need to catch your train,” she declared, “It’s a good job today is one of the days the museum stays open until later.”

Dan hurried to follow after Blair, who adopted an unusually fast pace as she turned a corner and continued to make her way through the vast corridors of the Louvre. The two of them had been wandering around the building for a good twenty minutes but Dan still found himself craning his neck as he walked in an attempt to take everything in. He had visited plenty of museums and art galleries before – his home city was, after all, full of them – but the majesty of the Louvre had quite simply left him in awe and he was positive he would have been able to wander around it for days if given chance. His new acquaintance had certainly had picked an excellent place to take him to, although he was sad that she didn’t seem to be enjoying herself very much.

“Hey, slow down a little. I have no idea how you manage to walk so fast in those shoes,” he commented as he rejoined her side, adding hesitantly, “Blair, is everything OK?”

“Of course,” Blair responded, “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Well, you haven’t really said much since we got off the train,” Dan pointed out.

“What are you talking about?” Blair questioned, “Did I imagine the part where I provided you with a brief but if you ask me particularly incisive history of Paris and of the Louvre on our way here?”

“OK, then let me rephrase. We haven’t really had a _conversation_ since we got off the train,” Dan explained, “Look, don’t take this the wrong way because I am grateful that you offered to show me around, but...I could have gotten the brief and incisive history of Paris from a travel guide.”

The look on Blair’s face informed Dan almost immediately that he’d said something he shouldn’t have. She stood silent for a few seconds, quite clearly fuming, before she seemed to find her voice again.

“God, I don’t even know why I _did_ offer to show you around.  That baby’s screaming must have caused some brain damage,” Blair commented, rolling her eyes and gesturing at him, “I mean, _look_ at you. Your clothes alone should have been enough to make me run a mile, and don’t even get me started on that hair.”

“What’s wrong with my clothes?” Dan asked, looking momentarily offended as he glanced down at what he was wearing.

“Nothing,” Blair responded calmly, “Assuming you don’t mind looking like someone who shops at the Gap.”

“Oh, OK, so now the truth comes out,” Dan said, arching an eyebrow, “You’re one of _those_ people.”

“What are you talking about?” Blair questioned, rolling her eyes again.

“Hey, I go to Yale and I went to private school,” Dan pointed out, “I know plenty of girls like you.”

“You go to Yale?” Blair asked, blinking at Dan for a moment. There was a hint of something he couldn’t quite place in her expression, but all too soon it was gone and she was folding her arms defensively across her chest as she stopped in her tracks to look at him.

“You don’t know anything about me. And I’m very happy to keep things that way,” she snapped, “Let’s just get this over with and get you on the train to the airport so you can go back to wherever the hell it was that you came from. Judging by your lack of taste, I would guess probably somewhere around New Jersey.”

“Actually, I’m from...”

“Not interested, Humphrey,” Blair interrupted her companion, “So, since I’m apparently such a dull tour guide, why don’t you tell me exactly what _you_ ’d like to see here at the Louvre and I’ll take you there?”

Dan’s jaw clenched momentarily as he looked at Blair, trying to come up with an answer to her question. It was getting harder by the minute to believe that the woman he’d been so entranced by on the train was the same woman standing before him, looking for all the world as if his presence was nothing more than an irritation to her. He wondered briefly if it would have been better if they had never seen each other again and she had remained nothing more than a surreal memory he would be able to look back on someday, and yet he still found himself strangely intrigued by her even now.

“Take me to see something that _you_ like,” he challenged finally.

Blair raised her eyebrows a little, momentarily taken aback. Whatever she had expected Dan to say, it certainly hadn’t been _that_. She had to pause to think for a few moments, directing her gaze downwards temporarily before she gave a slight nod of her head as she appeared to come to a decision. “Follow me. We need to go downstairs,” she announced.

Dan let Blair lead him to the stairs and walked down them next to her as a silence fell over them which somehow felt a lot more comfortable than when Blair had been giving him a running historical commentary. As they emerged onto the floor below, Dan looked around to see that they had apparently left behind paintings in favour of sculptures instead. Many Greek and Roman divine figures looked down at the both of them from their pedestals while Blair continued to lead the way down the corridor.

“Are we going to see the Venus de Milo?” he asked, a smile appearing on his face as he spotted the familiar Aphrodite up ahead of them, “Because I like the look of her.”

“I think she’s overrated, personally,” Blair remarked crisply. She walked past the statue Dan had his eye on until she was able to take a left turn, and then continued down the corridor. Dan was just beginning to wonder if she was certain she knew where she was going when she stopped resolutely and indicated towards the statue in front of her.

Dan directed his gaze upwards and his eyes fell on two figures leaning against a stone, all crafted from white marble. One of them was lying almost completely on the ground, her arms outstretched as she looked up at her counterpart. Her hands were resting on top of his hair, while he cradled her head with one hand and held her chest with the other. Their faces were close and they were gazing intently into each other’s eyes, looking almost like nothing more than two regular lovers completely enthralled by each other – which they might have been, were it not for the fact that one of them had wings sprouting from his back. The sign next to the sculpture informed Dan of its name: _Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss_.

“This is one of my favourites,” Blair admitted softly, “I’m not really sure why. I like the metaphor, I guess. Being lifeless and being reawakened by a kiss.”

“It is a good one. And it’s become kind of a standard in folklore, I guess,” Dan remarked, adding in a slightly mocking tone, “ _A princess brought back to life by true love’s kiss_.”

“In folklore it is usually a princess, but I don’t see why it has to be. It could be anyone,” Blair pointed out, “The kiss represents passion. I think if anything can reawaken someone then it’s passion and I can’t imagine a worse fate than lacking passion in your life. It doesn’t even have to be in a sexual way, necessarily, but just...passion, lust, desire...for life, for your dreams, for whatever it might be...without that then I think I’d be dead inside. It’s funny, everybody always seems to be in search of inspiration but if you ask me you need to find passion first.”

Dan fell silent for a moment, glancing at Blair while her eyes remained focused on the work of art that stood before them. He had stepped forwards to get a better look and they had ended up standing quite close together, their arms only just brushing against each other. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he commented, breaking into a smile.

“What were you looking for inspiration for, anyway?” Blair asked casually, remembering back to the conversation she’d had with Dan on the train.

“Well, life in general, I guess,” Dan admitted, “But more specifically writing. I want to be a writer someday, I think.”

“A writer of what?” Blair questioned, “Novels? Short stories? Poetry? Newspaper articles?”

“That’s the part that I’m trying to figure out,” Dan explained with a small chuckle, “My, uh...my ex-girlfriend was really interested in playwriting and screenwriting so I kind of gravitated towards that, but now I’m not so sure. I’m trying out lots of different styles in college and hoping that I can find my niche. What about you?”

“What about me?” Blair questioned.

“Do you know what you want to do yet after...?” Dan started before it occurred to him that he wasn’t sure what word was supposed to come next, “Wow, I just realised I don’t even know if you go to college. But I’ll be very surprised if you say no.”

“I go to La Sorbonne,” Blair explained with a small smile, “And I haven’t completely decided yet, but I’m pretty sure I’d like to be a writer too, in some way. Actually, what I’d really like to be is a critic.”

“Of what?” Dan asked, unable to stop himself from smiling back.

“Anything. Everything,” Blair responded, “But I suppose most of all the things that I love. Fashion, art, cinema...”

“Would you be writing in English or in French?” Dan questioned, and his smile only seemed to broaden.

“Why not both?” Blair replied with a shrug of her shoulders. Her smile matched Dan’s perfectly as she looked up at him, both of them somehow having managed to turn in towards each other without even realising. Her eyes met his and held his gaze for just a little too long before she quickly glanced down at the ground, her cheeks tinged with just a hint of pink.

“How did you end up living here, anyway?” Dan spoke up again, “It seems pretty bold to up and move to Europe before you’re even twenty-five.”

“My dad lives here,” Blair explained slightly hesitantly, “He...left my mom when I was a teenager and moved here with his...well, with his boyfriend. Then a few years later I ended up asking him if I could come live with him and he agreed.”

“OK, wow. That I was not expecting,” Dan said, his eyes having widened slightly, “What made you decide to move?”

“Dan...” Blair said softly, shaking her head at the man stood before her, “You don’t need to know those things about me.”

“Says the woman who was pouring her heart out to a total stranger on a train,” Dan teased lightly, “Come on. I _want_ to know these things about you.”

“That was _different_ ,” Blair protested, “On the train it didn’t matter what I said because you were just a guy at the bar and I was never going to see you again.”

“And now?” Dan ventured, “What’s the difference? Once I get on that train to the airport you’ll never see me again.”

“Now we’re going to spend enough time together that you’ll have the chance to get to know just enough about me that you’ll be glad when the time comes to leave,” Blair explained, “And I guess selfishly, I...I don’t want that. Because, despite your terrible taste in clothing and your rather impressive lack of tact, I actually kind of like being around you. So, trust me, Dan, when I say the less you know about me, the better.”

Dan looked quite confused by Blair’s words, and privately he wasn’t entirely sure that he believed her. He even thought about saying something to the contrary, but quickly decided against it. He decided that he would let actions speak louder than words could and chose not to question her. Instead, he gently took her by the hand, and was pleasantly surprised when she didn’t pull away. “We’ll see about that,” he said softly before asking her with a smile, “Hey, so would you be up for showing me some more things that _you_ like while I’m here?”

Blair broke into a smile in return and simply nodded. She turned towards Cupid and Psyche again, almost as if saying goodbye to the both of them, before she turned around and proceeded once more to lead the way.

“You were right, by the way,” Dan remarked as they walked side by side, their hands still joined, “I like that one a lot more than the Venus de Milo.”


	3. Printemps

“Alright, alright. I admit it,” Dan declared, raising his hands momentarily in mock surrender once he’d finished wiping his mouth with a napkin, “This place might be expensive, but it’s not overpriced. That was absolutely delicious.”

Blair smiled smugly and took a drink from her glass of red wine, her eyes never leaving the man sitting across the table from her. “I told you,” she said, “This is actually one of my favourite restaurants in Paris.”

“Well, then, you have very good taste,” Dan acknowledged, “I think that whole critic thing is really going to work out for you as a career choice.”

“Thank you,” Blair said softly. She smiled again, sweetly this time, before adding in a playful tone: “I’m sure that you’ll find your writing niche eventually, too. You never know, you might even end up being thankful that your girlfriend cheated on you. At least you’ve got the whole tortured artist thing going for you now.”

Dan broke into a laugh just as the waiter arrived to clear the now empty plates from their table. The elegant restaurant they were in was bustling with activity and Dan had briefly wondered how Blair had even managed to get them a table, but he had deemed it best not to ask. Instead, he had allowed himself to simply enjoy his meal and the company of the woman sitting opposite him, who was at present conversing with the waiter in fast, unintelligible French. He chuckled again at one of the expressions Blair pulled, and it occurred to him that a few moments ago had actually been the first time he’d managed to laugh about his break-up since it had happened.

“What was that all about?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at Blair as the waiter left.

“Oh, he was asking me if we were going to share a dessert,” Blair explained, rolling her eyes slightly, “I just told him to bring us the menu.” She noticed Dan’s expression change almost immediately and raised an eyebrow at him. “What are you grinning about?” she asked.

“Nothing,” Dan responded innocently, taking a drink from his own glass, “It’s just that...well, this is kind of a date, you know.”

Blair’s jaw dropped immediately and she glared across the table at Dan. “This is not a date!” she affirmed, “It’s just...strangers having dinner together and talking. You said you were hungry and you asked me to take you to a good place to eat so I did. And you agreed with my choice after you stopped complaining about how pricey the food was.”

“Sounds like a date to me,” Dan pointed out, still grinning, “But then again admittedly I haven’t actually been on a lot of dates, so you’ll have to forgive my overenthusiasm.”

 “Neither have I,” Blair confessed as the waiter returned with their menus, “I guess that’s what happens when the most significant romantic relationship you’ve ever had in your life was with your childhood sweetheart.”

“Or your childhood best friend,” Dan added, nodding slightly in agreement. He glanced down at his menu, which appeared to be entirely in French, and attempted to see how much sense he could make out of it.

“So, this childhood best friend who apparently traumatised you...she’s really the only girlfriend you’ve ever had?” Blair questioned, “And you’ve never been with anyone else? Not even like a casual, spur-of-the-moment hook-up to get back at her after she cheated on you?”

“Wow, that’s kind of a personal question,” Dan remarked, chuckling again but slightly nervously this time, “No, I guess I’ve never really been with anyone else. I kind of tried, but...apparently that’s not how I get over ex-girlfriends. So my dad thought I should try a vacation to Europe instead.”

“Wow,” Blair remarked, sounding genuinely surprised, “I kind of wish _I’d_ gone for a vacation when I found out my ex-boyfriend cheated on me.”

“Why?” Dan asked, “What did you do?”

“You’re going to judge me,” Blair said matter-of-factly.

“No judgement, I promise,” Dan affirmed, “Come on, cheating is one thing, but cheating on you with your best friend? He probably deserved whatever you did.”

“At the time I thought so. Now I’m not so sure what he did justified me sleeping with _his_ best friend,” Blair confessed, her gaze dropping to the table, “I thought I’d make the punishment fit the crime, but just ended up working out horribly for me in the end.”

“Well, I don’t think anyone can be blamed for the things they do in the spur of the moment. And unlike him, you didn’t cheat on anybody,” Dan pointed out, his voice softening slightly, “Is that why you left the United States? Because you were ashamed?”

Blair stiffened slightly and fell silent, glancing down at her menu instead of answering Dan’s question. “I really can’t decide what to have,” she mused after a little while, “Everything sounds so delicious.”

Dan run his tongue over his bottom lip momentarily as he too returned to gazing at the menu, realising he’d killed the conversation in one fell swoop with his question. He tried desperately to think of how to change the subject, but Blair beat him to it when she spoke up again.

“Do you ever regret it? Not dating around more when you were a teenager, I mean,” she said, “I do, sometimes. I used to have this...romantic fantasy about being with the boy I fell in love when I was a little girl for the rest of my life and telling my kids there had never been anyone else for me but him, but now I kind of wish I’d met more people. I wish I’d had lots of different experiences so I could have known better what was right for me and what I wanted in a relationship.”

“I kind of feel that way, too. I keep wondering what might have been, you know?” Dan admitted, “There was this girl...this beautiful blonde, back when I was in high school...she spoke to me once at a birthday party and I could never get her out of my mind after that. I used to see her sometimes around school, until I didn’t anymore and I eventually found out that she’d moved somewhere else. But I could never stop thinking...what would have happened if I’d managed to pluck up the courage to ask her out?”

Blair raised her eyebrows, looking sincerely unimpressed by Dan’s story. “You know she probably would have only ended up disappointing you,” she remarked, “That’s the way it tends to be with dream girls.”

“Probably,” Dan acknowledged with a small laugh, “Your case is slightly different to mine, though, right? I mean, if you broke up with your boyfriend in high school and came here...you must have been out on a few dates at least. Isn’t there some ridiculously good-looking French guy expecting a visit from you tomorrow once I’m long gone?”

“Dan, is that your not-so-subtle way of asking if I’m seeing anybody?” Blair questioned, breaking into a smile when Dan looked ever so slightly embarrassed.

“Maybe,” Dan conceded, raising his eyebrows a little as he met Blair’s gaze.

“No,” Blair replied softly after a moment’s pause, “I’m not seeing anybody.”

A grin slowly spread across Dan’s face and his eyes never left Blair’s. “In that case, I don’t see why we _can’t_ share a dessert,” he pointed out, and it was Blair’s turn to let out a laugh.

“We probably shouldn’t even be sitting here looking at the menu,” Blair pointed out, causing Dan to raise his eyebrows at her before she explained, “Don’t you have a flight to catch? You need to be back at the station soon.”

“Oh, that,” Dan said, “I’ll double-check what time it is, but I’m sure it’ll be fine. I don’t know why they ask you to arrive so early at airports when you all you end up doing is waiting around.”

 “It’s in case anything goes wrong,” Blair noted. She watched from across the table as Dan dug his phone out from his pocket and proceeded to, she presumed, look up the details of his flight. She was trying desperately not to think too much about the fact that she would be saying goodbye to him fairly soon when she saw Dan’s face register a look of confusion and it was her turn to raise her eyebrows slightly at him. “Is there something wrong?” she asked.

“Not really, I just...my flight’s been delayed,” Dan explained, glancing back up at Blair.

“Oh,” Blair responded. She had intended for her tone to be somewhat sympathetic, but somehow it had come out instead as something closer to pleasantly surprised. “For how long?” she asked as casually as she could.

“Until tomorrow morning, looks like...” Dan replied, “It doesn’t seem to say why, though.”

“I bet I know why,” Blair mused, getting out her own phone and navigating to the front page of _Le Monde_ , “I guess you’ll have to find yourself a hotel to stay in for the night.”

“Yeah, and hopefully one that’s not that expensive. I still have some money left but a chunk of that will go on this meal,” Dan admitted, “Not that it won’t be worth it, but...”

“Of course. _Une grève_ ,” Blair announced, shaking her head slightly at her phone screen before she translated for Dan’s benefit, “There’s a strike on. I’m sure it’ll all be resolved by tomorrow, but you’ll definitely need a place to stay until then. I guess...at least this means we’ll be able to have that dessert after all?”

“Absolutely,” Dan agreed with a smile. He paused for a moment, looking slightly hesitant, but Blair managed to answer the question that was on his mind before he’d even voiced it.

“I don’t mind showing you around some more after that. If you want me to, I mean,” Blair offered. She cleared her throat momentarily after the words had left her mouth and hastened to explain herself. “You’re going to have a hard time finding a nice room on such short notice so trust me, you’re going to want to spend as little time in there as possible,” she added.

“I’ll take your word for it,” Dan said, chuckling gently, “And I’d love that. So tell me, what more is there left of Paris that I haven’t seen?”

“So very much,” Blair replied with a knowing smile, “You have absolutely no idea, Humphrey.” 

* * *

“I still feel like I can’t stop looking at it,” Dan admitted, glancing over his shoulder one more time, “Blair, that place is absolutely incredible. How come all everybody talks about is the Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower and nobody ever mentions _that_ building?”

“Notre _Dame_ ,” Blair said almost immediately, extending the ‘a’ to correct Dan’s pronunciation of the word. Without even really thinking about it, she’d ended up slipping her arm through his as they made their way down Boulevard Haussmann, their path illuminated by bright streetlamps. Behind them stood the elegant facade of the Palais Garnier, with its Grecian style columns and golden statues which had left Dan completely in awe. “I think it’s one of the most beautiful buildings in Paris,” Blair admitted, “I’m sorry we couldn’t go inside, but it’s closed at this time of night.”

“Sorry,” Dan said with a smile for his mistake, “No, it’s fine, but I bet it’d be really amazing to watch something there. What kind of things to they show?”

“In that building, mostly ballet,” Blair explained, “I haven’t seen anything there, but I did go see an opera once at the other building the _Opéra de Paris_ operates out of, which is unfortunately nowhere near as spectacular. The opera itself was very impressive, though. I was kind of surprised that I enjoyed as much as I did because I’m normally much more of a film fan.”

“Same here,” Dan remarked, “You’re very lucky, you know, living here. The French film industry is absolutely incredible.”

“You like French cinema?” Blair questioned, looking slightly surprised as she turned to look at Dan.

“I think France produces some of the most interesting movies out there,” Dan said before asking, “So what was that place called, again?”

“The building? It’s called the _Palais Garnier_ ,” Blair responded. She noticed the broad smile that appeared on Dan’s face and tilted her head slightly at him. “What?” she questioned.

“Nothing,” Dan said, shaking his head and still smiling, “I just like the way you pronounce the ‘r’ when you say it.”

“It’s the correct way. The French way,” Blair stated matter-of-factly, raising her eyebrows at him.

“I know,” Dan admitted, “I just like the way you say it.”

“Dan...” Blair said softly.

“I like the way you say that, too,” Dan added with a laugh, “Yes, _mademoiselle_?”

“Is there anywhere in particular _you_ wanted to see in Paris?” Blair asked, “I still have a few places in mind that I could take you, but...”

“Well, I suppose there is _one_ place I wanted to go,” Dan responded, “I know it’s very touristy, but...you can’t come to Paris and not see the Parisian skyline, right? Do you think the Eiffel Tower would still be open at this time of night?”

“The Eiffel Tower is open until quite late,” Blair answered, “But, I don’t know...personally, I think if you’re going to see the Parisian skyline then you ought to see a skyline _with_ the Eiffel Tower in it, not _from_ the Eiffel Tower.”

“And why do I have a feeling you know the perfect place?” Dan said, breaking into a smile again. He was perfectly happy to let Blair lead the way as they continued down the same street arm in arm. Apparently, the location she had in mind was less than a ten-minute walk away.

* * *

Dan had, admittedly, been somewhat sceptical when Blair had stopped in front of what turned out to be a department store called _Le Printemps_. He didn’t really have anything against department stores and the building itself was incredibly ornate and even beautiful, but he wasn’t particularly interested in doing any shopping and was struggling a little to understand why his companion had taken them both there. Blair, for her part, merely kept telling him to trust her, and that she had brought him here for a reason that had nothing to do with buying clothes – even though, she pointed out, he could probably benefit from a new wardrobe.

It wasn’t until they reached the roof that Dan finally understood why they had come here of all places. He took a few steps forward, following after Blair, and there, spread out before him in all its beauty, was Paris. The city was bathed in the light of the moon and lit up of its own accord, almost appearing to glitter in the night. The Eiffel Tower seemed to be lit up brightest of them all and actually did shimmer for a few minutes as he looked at it to mark the hour. He realised immediately why Blair had told him that the Parisian skyline wasn’t quite complete without it. He had seen New York City many times from above, both at night and during the day, and had privately thought sometimes that he wasn’t sure if another city could ever rival it. He’d been wrong.

“Good enough for you, Humphrey?” Blair questioned, a slightly smug smile appearing on her face.

“Wow. I can’t believe I thought I’d just be passing through here,” Dan responded quietly before glancing over his shoulder at Blair, “And I never thought a city could be so easy to fall in love with.”

Blair’s smile softened and for a little while she just remained where she was stood next to Dan, who appeared to be temporarily at a loss for words. The two of them stayed in a comfortable silence, watching the cars and people go by on the streets below and the lights twinkle softly in the distance, until Blair became the one to speak up again.

“What if this was a date?” she said quietly.

“What do you mean?” Dan asked, turning to look at her again and raising his eyebrows slightly.

“Well, I’m curious,” Blair said, her face a picture of innocence, “You said we were practically on a date, although we both came to the conclusion that neither of us have had a lot of experience with dating. Hypothetically, if this was a date, what do you think we’d be doing right now?”

“You mean, hypothetically, if I was on a date with a beautiful woman, in what a lot of people think of as the most romantic city in the world, and we’d been walking around Paris, and been to the Louvre, and been to an amazing restaurant, and to the... _Palais Garnier_ which I can’t pronounce like you can, and then she’d brought me up to see this absolutely breathtaking view....” Dan responded all in one breath before he sighed and smiled at Blair, “I’d honestly be hoping for nobody to pinch me in case I woke up.”

Blair smiled again and reached out to give Dan’s arm a soft pinch. He let out a quiet ‘Ow!’, even though it hadn’t really hurt, and brought his hand up to his arm momentarily. “Still here,” Blair said softly, “I guess you’re not dreaming, Dan.”

“No, I guess I’m not,” Dan concluded as he met Blair’s gaze, “Well, I suppose...if this was a date, and we were up on a rooftop together looking out at all of Paris...”

“Yes?” Blair urged.

“I suppose this would be...” Dan said hesitantly, “Well, this would be the moment where I’d...”

“You’re really not good at taking hints, are you?” Blair remarked, and all of a sudden her lips were on his.

Dan didn’t even have time to register being mildly shocked. His eyes closed, his mouth opened against Blair’s, he felt her hands come up to his shoulders, one of his hands rested on her waist and the other found its way into her hair, and their kiss went very quickly went from being soft and gentle to intense and passionate. For those precious moments, they both allowed themselves to become utterly lost together.

Blair wasn’t sure how much time had passed when she pulled away. Their lips were no longer touching but she remained as close to Dan as she had been during their kiss and glanced up, meeting his gaze. His eyes seemed to ask a thousand questions, all of which were running through her mind as well. She’d only met him a few hours ago, hadn’t she? She didn’t so much as know where he lived in the US, and he didn’t even know her last name. It wouldn’t be long before she’d be bidding goodbye to him at a hotel and then he’d be gone the following morning and that would be it. She would never see him again. Even putting all of that aside, she was slightly baffled at herself. This wasn’t _her_. She didn’t just meet men on trains and wind up kissing them on rooftops later the same night. She felt like somebody else, and yet at the same time more like herself than she had in a long time. The last time she’d felt this _alive_ , she realised, was long before she’d left for France.

Her arms wrapped themselves around his neck and she kissed him again.


	4. The Seine

“But in the end it doesn’t really matter that Capote wanted Marilyn Monroe,” Blair told Dan adamantly, “A novella is a novella and a movie is a movie. They’re two separate things, and for the movie Audrey Hepburn turned out to be the perfect choice.”

Dan smiled as his gaze dropped briefly to the ground. He’d figured out about five minutes into this particular conversation that it probably hadn’t been such a good idea to even suggest that Audrey Hepburn might not have been the best choice to play Holly Golightly in what he’d quickly discovered was Blair’s favourite movie, but by that time it had been too late. Nonetheless, she was at least still holding his hand in hers as they made their way along an esplanade which Blair had informed him was called _Cours la Reine_. There wasn’t a whole lot to see around them at that time of night, but along the banks of the River Seine the city of Paris was still glistening just as it had been when he’d seen it from above.

“Yeah, but it felt like they had to take the edges off for the movie because of Hepburn,” Dan explained his opinion further, “I mean, what about the ending?”

“The ending in the film is far better than in the source material,” Blair stated. She had temporarily halted their walk to turn and look at him accusingly. “OK, so maybe it’s not bittersweet like in the novella, but it gives Holly proper resolution as a character,” she explained further, “She finally learns to stop running away and finds the courage to open herself up to love and happiness. That might seem to some people like just a cliché Hollywood ending but I think it’s a brave thing for anyone to do.”

“A well-argued point, _mademoiselle_. But consider this,” Dan spoke up, and before Blair had a chance to say anything else he leant forward and pressed a kiss to her lips, his spare hand coming up to gently touch the side of her face. He was slightly concerned initially that she might be annoyed at him, but she kissed him back and when she pulled away her smile matched his.

“I shouldn’t have kissed you on the rooftop,” Blair remarked, shaking her head slightly but still smiling.

“I beg to differ, actually,” Dan responded, his smile turning into a grin. He squeezed gently on Blair’s hand that he was still holding as they continued to walk side by side. “All joking aside, I can see where you’re coming from,” he added, “Falling in love isn’t as easy as everybody else makes it out to be. It’s terrifying. I mean, even admitting it, even saying it out loud for the first time…well, for me it was kind of a disaster.”

“What happened?” Blair asked.

“Admittedly my timing wasn’t the best. I told her the night before she was due to move away to another state, and she asked me to take it back right away. And still left, anyway,” Dan explained, “She did come back, though. She told me she loved me too and it was sweet and I guess beautiful in that kind of cheesy teen movie way, but it was more than a year later. It was like spending over a year with my heart broken.”

“At least you had your moment. I can’t even remember the first time I told my first boyfriend that I loved him. We’d been together for so long that being in love with him just seemed like a fact of life, I guess. Something I knew had always been true and always would be,” Blair remarked, shaking her head slightly, “Sometimes I think words are easy, though, you know? Like with him…with most of the guys I’ve been with, actually, it was all about what they said and never what they did.  He never had a problem with saying ‘I love you’. He just didn’t want to sleep with me.”

“What? With you? Come on, you can’t be serious,” Dan remarked, furrowing his brow at Blair in surprise, “He must have had problems.”

Blair couldn’t help but smile slightly at Dan’s disbelief. “My best friend was the problem,” she noted, “Though I didn’t know that at the time. And by the time I found out, of course, she was long gone.”

“I’m still not sure how it is that people can just do that,” Dan mused, “Just…leave. Walk away from the people who love and care about them and never look back. Never even wonder what’s going on with the people they left behind.”

“Why do I get the feeling you’re speaking from personal experience?” Blair asked, raising her eyebrows slightly.

“Wow. I don’t think I ever realised quite how transparent I apparently am before I met you,” Dan remarked with a small laugh, “Nah, it was just…my mom. It was a while ago now, but she left one summer telling us that she wanted to ‘pursue her dream of being an artist’. Really though I’m pretty sure deep down she just wanted some time away from my dad. And then summer came and went and she still wasn’t back and my dad found out she’d been seeing another guy and…I just don’t know why she couldn’t be honest with us, you know? I made my peace with it eventually, and with her, but I don’t know if I’ll ever understand why she handled things the way she did. I guess I don’t need to explain to you of all people what that feels like.”

“Well, my dad left for France with his new boyfriend, so at least with him it was pretty obvious that he was gone for good,” Blair remarked with a grim smile, “But that actually happened just after my best friend disappeared without any explanation and without saying goodbye, so it kind of felt like two betrayals in a way. I guess if you’re the one leaving you can just cut yourself off from any responsibility. You’re right that it’s the people left behind who end up suffering. I’m guessing her leaving was pretty hard on your dad?”

“Yeah, definitely. My sister actually ended up convincing my mom to come back, which at the time just pissed me off, but in the end I think it was probably a good thing. He and my mom got a chance to try and make things work and they just realised that they couldn’t,” Dan replied with a shrug of his shoulders, “I just kind of wish he’d meet someone, you know. I mean, I don’t think he’s unfulfilled. He’s a music producer and he’s doing pretty well for himself. But I just want him to be happy.”

“It’ll happen. My mom was in a terrible state after my dad left, but even she managed to meet someone and she’s happily married now,” Blair noted before asking, “You have a sister?”

“Yeah, Jenny,” Dan replied, directing a smile at Blair, “You’d probably like her. She’s at fashion school back home.”

“And yet her brother seems to have inherited no fashion sense at all,” Blair teased, causing Dan to laugh. She watched him for just a second or two, thinking to herself how pleasant the sound of his laughter was, before she shook her head as if doing so might get rid of the thought. “Dan, what are we doing?” she spoke up again.

“Ummm…” Dan replied, looking confused, “Talking, I think? Well, that and we decided after the _Printemps_ to just go wherever our feet take us.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Blair said, “Why are we even asking each other about our friends, our families? This, us…we already know that whatever it is, in a few hours it’s going to be over. It’s like we’re living in borrowed time that we shouldn’t even have.”

“Hey, we don’t have to think about that right now,” Dan said softly, “I don’t know about you, but as far as I’m concerned I’m just happy to be here enjoying your company. And believe me, according to most of the people I know I’m usually pretty much the king of overthinking, but not here, not with you. I like you a lot and I want to get to know you and that’s all that matters to me right now.” He brought Blair’s hand up to his lips for a gentle kiss and registered a wistful smile on her face. “Now come on, you were telling me about your mom,” he coaxed gently.

Blair looked like she wanted to say more, but she was swiftly distracted by the subject of her mother. “You don’t want to know about my mom,” she admitted, pulling a face, “She and I…well, let’s say we’ve never had the best relationship. I was never quite good enough for her, I guess. I didn’t smile enough, I wasn’t enchanting enough at social events, I wasn’t pretty enough, I wasn’t thin enough. Plus she always liked my best friend more than me.”

“Ok, well, first of all, if she really does think that way about you then she’s wrong. And second of all, this is still the best friend who slept with your boyfriend and then left town that we’re talking about, right?” Dan queried, raising an eyebrow, “Sorry to say it but she really doesn’t sound like much of a best friend from everything you’ve told me.”

“She was…there were times when I needed her and she really was there for me. Her mom is kind of insane too – in a different way – and we were always supporting each other,” Blair explained, “But no, I guess you’re right. I never even spoke to her again after she left, but…I don’t know, I just can’t seem to forget about people who’ve been significant in my life, no matter how much I want to or how hard I try. I think it’s just not the way I’m built.”

“I don’t think that’s a bad quality,” Dan commented softly, “And I think it probably doesn’t help that you didn’t get any closure. Why did she leave, do you know? Was it solely because of what happened with your boyfriend?”

“No, it wasn’t,” Blair replied, shaking her head. She hesitated for a moment and her tongue ran briefly over her bottom lip before she spoke again. “She, um…she had an abortion. She got pregnant and decided she couldn’t keep it and got everything done privately, and it would have been fine except…she’d been seeing another guy around the time she slept with my boyfriend, and she wasn’t sure who the father was. He and my boyfriend were the only ones she told about the pregnancy, and when this other guy found out she’d slept with someone else…well, he got so mad that he made sure everyone who mattered at school knew about everything. I’m pretty sure the reason she left had at least something to do with that. You should have seen how everybody reacted. My mom was horrified.”

“Wow, that’s awful. Nobody in the world deserves to have something that private made insanely public. I guess I can understand why she might have left under those circumstances. She could still have said goodbye to you, though,” Dan said, looking slightly taken aback by Blair’s story. When he turned to glance at her he noticed an unusual expression on her face as she looked at him, almost as though she’d expected him to say something else and was slightly stunned. “I thought you said your mom really liked her, though?” he said, breaking the temporarily silence between them.

“What?” Blair questioned, blinking for a moment before she added, “Oh, right. Yes, she did. That’s why it was so surprising to see even her turn on her.”

It was only when Dan saw Blair’s gaze dart across the street they were currently walking on that he realised for the better part of their conversation he hadn’t even been paying attention to his surroundings at all. He had absolutely no idea where they had ended up but Blair seemed to recognize the location, and she had broken into a smile upon seeing the large square just across the road from them. It was bustling with activity, and Dan thought he could even hear the sound of music over the nearby traffic.

“Come on,” Blair coaxed Dan, “I think you might enjoy this place.”

Dan smiled and followed Blair’s lead as they crossed the street and made their way up the steps to the square. The music turned out to be coming from a performer on his saxophone and his small band who were entertaining the crowds of people, most of whom were quite obviously tourists. The square was flanked on either side by two impressive-looking buildings, but even more impressive was the esplanade just beyond it. It looked out onto the River Seine and just across the water towering over everything stood the glowing Eiffel Tower, much bigger and even brighter than Dan had ever seen it before.

“Welcome to the _Trocadéro_ ,” Blair declared with a smile, “Nice view, don’t you think?”

“You know I’m really starting to run out of words to describe this city,” Dan commented, shaking his head slightly with a laugh. He managed to tear himself away from the view to turn his attention briefly to the saxophone player, who was playing a melody he didn’t recognise.

“Do you dance, Humphrey?” Blair spoke up, raising her eyebrows at him.

“Not really,” Dan admitted regretfully, “I kind of skipped pretty much all of the formal events at school. And at college.”

“Well, that’s alright. We can just pretend to dance,” Blair replied without hesitation, moving to stand directly in front of Dan. She kept hold of one of his hands and placed his other one on her waist before Dan took the hint and took a step forwards, closing the distance between them. Their faces ended up barely inches apart with their noses almost touching, and Dan could have imagined it but he thought he saw a slight blush creep across Blair’s cheeks. He began to sway in time to the music with her just as the saxophone player changed to a different song which he thought he did recognise, and he was slightly taken aback when he then heard the sound of Blair giggling softly close to his ear.

“Why are you laughing?” Dan asked, unable to help but chuckle himself, “I’m not that bad, am I?”

“No, no, it’s just… _La Vie en Rose_?” Blair said, still laughing a little, “It’s such a cliché I can’t believe they still play it. I guess it’s for tourists.”

“Yes, and I’m technically a tourist and I like that I’ll be able to say when I go home that I had the experience of hearing _La Vie en Rose_ in Paris,” Dan pointed out with a smile.

“Well, most Americans are easily impressed, so I guess that’ll be enough for your friends and family,” Blair remarked with a smirk, “You won’t even need to tell them about me.”

“Oh, I’m telling them about you,” Dan affirmed.

“Really? And what are you going to say?” Blair questioned, adding with a laugh, “Are they going to get an embellished story about a girl who you met on the train and ended up having an insanely hot one-night stand with?”

“Well, I can’t promise anything…” Dan teased briefly before he became more serious and lowered his voice, speaking in Blair’s ear, “I’m going to tell them that on my very last night in Europe I met a woman on the train and that she sparked up something in me when I wasn’t finding anything in life interesting. That after Vanessa, she finally made me feel like I could breathe again, like I could laugh again, like I could really _live_ again. That I still can’t even believe how beautiful she is, how smart she is, how passionate she is. And I’m going to tell them that I ended up not wanting to think about the next day, or even a few hours from then, because…I didn’t want to imagine what it would be like to say goodbye to her.”

Blair didn’t have to close hardly any space between the two of them for their lips to meet in a kiss. She lingered there for quite a while, one of her hands moving up to the short hair at the nape of Dan’s neck, before she slowly pulled away. She let go of his hand and moved her arm to join the other one around his neck, continuing their dance with her head resting gently against his.

* * *

“I know we said go wherever our feet take us,” Blair spoke up, glancing downwards at her high-heeled shoes, “But I’m really not sure my feet can hold out much longer without a rest. Do you suppose there’s somewhere we can sit down? Maybe we can find a bar or something…”

“How about a movie theatre?” Dan suggested, one of the buildings nearby having caught his eye. His arm was gently wrapped around Blair’s waist as they got closer to see what was playing. “Do you know this place?” he asked, having seen a look of recognition on Blair’s face.

“Oh my God, yes. I didn’t even realise we were close by,” Blair said, breaking into a smile, “I love this cinema. They show lots of really good old movies.”

“Sounds perfect. Your feet can get some rest and once it’s finished we’ll have another movie to argue about,” Dan teased before asking, “Anything in particular you want to see? Personally I’m leaning towards _Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot_. It’s starting up in like twenty minutes, so we wouldn’t have to wait that long.”

“Well, I do enjoy some Tati,” Blair conceded, “We’ll go with your choice, Humphrey, but only under the condition that you never attempt to pronounce that title ever again. You can call it _Mr. Hulot's Holiday_ if you must.”

“It’s a deal,” Dan remarked with a laugh, “As long as you let me buy you your own popcorn. That’s one thing I don’t like to share.”

“That seems kind of selfish, Humphrey,” Blair said, raising an eyebrow at him, “Have I found your first flaw?”

“First of many, I can assure you,” Dan noted, “Anyway, I thought my first flaw was having a terrible fashion sense.”

“I think I could learn to live with that,” Blair remarked with a smile, pressing a quick kiss to Dan’s lips. Her arm slipped around his waist, mirroring his as they made their way into the cinema.

 


	5. Montmartre

It had become clear to Dan almost immediately after he had first met Blair that she was without a doubt an excellent conversationalist. Dan’s own mother used to say when he was a boy that there was never a word he met that he didn’t like, but Blair seemed to have more than his natural affinity for vocabulary. She was obviously well-informed on most subjects, and she had an opinion to share on pretty much everything. He loved to talk, but he especially loved to talk to _her_. Their chatter felt easy and natural, and yet as they sat together on a bench in Montmartre with a clear view of the Sacré-Cœur Basilica he realised something else: their silences were just as comfortable. Blair had rested her head gently against his shoulder and he had taken her hand in his and neither of them had said anything for a while, but somehow it didn’t feel in the slightest bit awkward. He just felt very much at peace and incredibly content.    

“D’you think people can get married there?” Dan wondered aloud after a few more moments had gone by. When Blair looked confused he nodded towards Sacré-Cœur, and Blair then smiled and shook her head slightly.

“I don’t think so. Church weddings aren’t recognised as marriages here, anyway. But it would be a beautiful place to have a ceremony,” Blair remarked, “Not that I’d be able to, anyway. I’m nowhere near Catholic enough or…Catholic at all. That hasn’t prevented me from going to confession once or twice, but I think they might draw the line at me having a wedding ceremony in a Catholic church.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been to church in my life,” Dan admitted, “My parents were never really religious and I guess I grew up kind of naturally sceptical about everything.”

“I tend to go when I feel like I need some guidance. I don’t buy into a lot of it, but I’m pretty certain I do believe in _some_ kind of higher power. Maybe we don’t fully understand it, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s not there,” Blair commented, her gaze fixed on a point in the distance that she wasn’t even really looking at. After a second or two she glanced up at Dan from where she was resting against him and smiled when he turned to look at her. “But wait, you don’t believe in God and you do believe in marriage?” she teased, raising her eyebrows at him.

“When did I say that?” Dan retorted before shaking his head, “I don’t know about marriage. After my parents got divorced I definitely felt differently about it, but I still _believed_ in it. When I was with my ex I kind of had it in my head that after I graduated from college I was probably going to propose to her, but the weird part was that I could never really _see_ it. I couldn’t imagine picking out a ring, going down on one knee, her saying yes. I definitely couldn’t imagine people scattering confetti over us as she walked with me out of a church in a wedding dress.”

“I thought my parents’ divorce would change my opinions on marriage, too, but it didn’t at all. I love everything about weddings. I can’t help it. I love the sense of occasion, seeing families all gathered together, all of the customs and traditions. Do you know that in some parts of France they scatter laurel leaves for the couple to walk over after they wed?” Blair commented, smiling to herself, “But marriage is about more than just the wedding, anyway, to me. It’s about more than a legal contract. It’s even about more than God. It’s about…two people being brave enough to give their hearts to each other and making the decision to journey through life side by side. Sure, not every couple who makes that promise ends up together forever, but sometimes they do. I think there’s something really beautiful in being willing to take that chance.”

“I like that way of looking at it,” Dan commented, his smile matching Blair’s. He let go of the hand of hers that he was holding and slipped his arm around her, his fingers curling gently around her shoulder. His nose was filled with the scent of her perfume as he leant down and met her lips with his, happily lingering there for a little while. He was finding it increasingly easy to forget in the moments they shared that their time together was quickly coming to an end, but as soon as they had pulled away Dan saw Blair’s gaze drift to their bags, which were sat beside the two of them on the bench.

“We really need to find you a hotel, Dan,” Blair murmured, her voice tinged with sadness.

“No, not yet. Come on, if there’s anything you’ve taught me it’s that this city is just waiting to be explored. There must be more for us to do,” Dan protested, “What about that poster we saw that said _Casino de Paris_? I think I might still have a little bit of money left and I can’t gamble it back home.”

“ _Casino de Paris_ is a concert venue,” Blair explained, unable to help but chuckle slightly, “We don’t really have casinos here in Paris. And even if we did, it’s getting ridiculously late and if we don’t find somewhere soon you’re going to get no sleep at all before your flight tomorrow. I told you we should’ve found a place near the station when we went to collect our bags, but you wanted to see Montmartre…”

“Well, I blame you for making it sound like somewhere I shouldn’t leave Paris without seeing. Even if you were right,” Dan teased before glancing downwards as his expression became more serious, “I just…I can’t get my head around the fact that as soon as we find a hotel then that’ll be it. Our borrowed time, as you called it…it’ll be over. We’ll go our separate ways and this’ll all be nothing but memories.”

“What alternative do we have, Dan?” Blair pointed out, lifting her head from his shoulder to look at him, “I live here. I go to school _here_ and you go to school in the US. What are we going to do? Exchange numbers and e-mail addresses? Talk occasionally on the phone, correspond with each other a few times until one or both of us meets somebody else and whatever we had just fizzles out? I don’t want that. Do you?”

“No, of course I don’t want that,” Dan replied sincerely. He looked like he was about to say more, but Blair cut him off before he had the chance.

“Then this is the way it has to be,” Blair affirmed, “I think you had a point before, when you said that all that matters is right now. We should just enjoy every second of the time we have left together and then after that…well, at least our memories won’t ever be tarnished, right? You’ll never know if I’d only end up driving you crazy if we were around each other all the time.”

“Oh, I’m pretty certain you’d end up driving me crazy. But only in a very, very good way,” Dan joked, flashing a smile at Blair. He saw Blair smile back and blush slightly, but it didn’t take her long to fall serious again. Dan found it easier to keep the tone light than tell her that at the moment there was nothing more he wanted than to find out what it would be like to be around her all the time.

“I guess you’re right,” he conceded, standing slowly to his feet and offering Blair a hand, “We both have separate lives to lead. In the end the best thing for us to do is just take advantage of the time we have left. But you should…I just want you to know that tonight has already been one of the greatest nights of my life.”

Blair’s eyes met Dan’s as she took his hand and lifted herself up off the bench. “Mine too,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. She held his gaze a little while longer before picking up her bag in one hand, her other one still holding tightly onto his.

“Come on, I’ll help you find a hotel for the night. I’d worry about you wandering around the city with your complete lack of French skills,” Blair commented, even though she knew full well Dan could probably get by even with his limited grasp on the language. Dan slung his bag over his shoulder and the two of them set off hand in hand, their feet treading on a few scattered leaves on the ground as they walked slowly away from their bench.

* * *

The décor of the budget hotel where Dan had managed to find a place for the night was tacky enough to make Blair wrinkle her nose in utter distaste, but she surprisingly found herself holding her tongue on her way through the corridors with him. Even the state of the hotel somehow didn’t seem all that important at the moment. Despite her words from before, she had found herself incapable of thinking about anything but the inevitable goodbye that would come soon since the moment they had left their bench together. Their borrowed time would be given back in the corridor of a dark and dingy hotel, and all she could think was that she didn’t want it to end this way. In fact, she didn’t want it to end at all.

She was temporarily pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of Dan opening the door to what would be his hotel room, and she watched as he peeked his head in and dropped his bag just inside. She was dreading him turning back to look at her again, and once he did she realised she’d had extremely good reason to. His eyes were full of sadness and her heart sunk. All she had wanted was for him to make this a little bit easier, but the look on his face immediately told her that would be impossible.

“Looks like they gave me the right room key and everything,” Dan remarked, as if it was even important, “Thanks. You didn’t have to come all the way to my room with me.”

“I know,” Blair said softly, her brown eyes glancing up at the man before her. She placed the bag she’d been holding down on the floor and reached out a hand to gently touch his hair. “I guess this is it, then,” she said.

“I guess it is,” Dan agreed just as quietly, “Blair, look, I really need to say…”

“No. Don’t,” Blair requested gently yet firmly, shaking her head, “Please, this is hard enough. Just…I think we should just say goodbye.”

“But…” Dan began to protest.

“Goodbye, Dan,” Blair said, and no sooner had the words left her mouth than her lips were crashing into his. Her hands came to rest on either side of his head as she was swept up in a passionate kiss which she found herself hoping would never be over.

“Goodbye, Blair,” Dan breathed, barely pulling away from her. His arms encircled her waist so that her body was pressed up against his as their tongues entangled and neither of them made any effort to part ways. If anything, all either of them could think about was being as close to each other as possible.

“Goodbye,” Blair said yet again and this time she did move, but not in the direction she was supposed to be going in. Without breaking apart from Dan and as their kiss turned into another and yet another, she found herself edging in the direction of the open door to his hotel room.

“Goodbye,” Dan uttered, but the word had become meaningless since goodbye was the furthest thing from his mind at the moment. He only came to his senses again when he felt Blair’s hands slide down to just underneath the collar of his shirt, and he pulled away slightly to realise that they had ended up standing inside his hotel room.  

Dan’s eyes found Blair’s and he glanced at her slightly swollen lips before meeting her gaze again, his breathing slightly shallower than it had been before. He needed to know if this was truly what she wanted, and she answered him without a single word. Instead, Blair merely grabbed her bag from where she’d left it just outside and brought it in, closing the door behind her before she returned almost immediately to his arms.

Dan felt Blair’s lips travel up his jaw to his ear as her fingers nimbly undid the buttons on his shirt to run over the skin underneath. The sadness that had graced her features only a short while ago was gone and replaced with a smile while she pulled his shirt off over his arms, dropping her head to kiss his shoulders and his chest. Dan’s hands slipped under Blair’s blouse to run over the smooth skin of her stomach, and it was as she returned to his lips so that he could rid her of her clothing that she realised something slightly surprising to her: Dan was nervous. The men she’d been with in the past had always seemed like trained pros at removing almost any item of clothing, but he was fumbling a little and she could feel his hands shaking ever so slightly. She thought back to their conversation in the restaurant, which seemed like a lifetime ago now, and what he’d said when she’d asked him if he’d really only ever had one girlfriend. _“_ _No, I guess I've never really been with anyone else. I kind of tried, but...apparently that's not how I get over ex-girlfriends.”_ She hadn’t specifically meant it in the physical sense when she’d asked the question, but she was starting to think that Dan had. She could already tell from the pressure against her hip, however, that regardless of that that he clearly wanted this much as she did.

“Wow,” Blair heard Dan breath as he successfully got her skirt to drop to the floor and she was left in only her black lace bra and underwear. She couldn’t help but grin just before her lips found his again and her hands headed below his waist. Dan groaned as the zipper easily came undone and Blair’s hands slipped into his pants.

“Please tell me you have a condom somewhere,” Blair uttered, and initially all Dan could do was nod.

“In my bag. Outside left pocket,” he said eventually, his voice slightly hoarse. Blair slid his pants down and let them fall to the floor before heading over to his bag, quickly digging out a box of condoms that appeared to be completely full. She retrieved one and returned to Dan, who began planting kisses down her neck as one of his hands travelled down her waist. The shivers that had been running down her spine were replaced with an entirely different sensation as she felt his fingers run over her underwear.

“Dan…” she said in a gasp. Her reaction seemed to relax Dan slightly and she felt his hands far more steady as he removed her bra and then her last piece of underwear, letting both drop to the floor. Soon after, his boxers joined them courtesy of Blair, and his hands ran down the bare skin of her back as their lips collided once more.

The bed was only a few steps behind the both of them in the small room, and as soon as Dan found himself sitting on it Blair was climbing on top of him with her legs either side of his hips. The condom was quickly rolled on and she lowered her body, letting out a soft sigh as he entered her. She was sure she couldn’t even have imagined how good it would feel to have him fill her completely, to be as close to him as she could possibly be, to physically experience for the first time this stranger who had stirred emotions in her that she hadn’t ever known before. She lifted herself up from him and back down slowly, her fingers digging into his back as his lips travelled up her neck and up her jaw. They found a rhythm easily and savoured every movement of their bodies together, as if they had all the time in the world to explore each other. Blair moaned appreciatively in Dan’s ear as he caressed every available inch of her skin, and he seemed to delight in her reaching around to entangle her fingers in his hair as she came closer and closer to her release. One of his hands reached between the two of them to where they were connected and he let Blair’s moans guide him to exactly the right spot. She tumbled over the edge with his name on her lips, and he followed a few moments later with her name on his.

Blair clung to Dan when she came off of her high, pressing gentle kisses to his shoulder as both of them waited for their breathing to become less ragged. Dan slowly turned Blair around and lowered her to the bed, admiring her form as she lazily slipped under the covers and then joining her a short while later. He was very soon leaning in to kiss her lips gently again and again, the broad grin on his face matching the smile on hers.

“I have to say,” Dan murmured, “That has to be the best goodbye I’ve experienced in my entire life.”

Blair let out a laugh and placed her hand on the back of Dan’s neck, returning each of his tender kisses.  “Really? I always say goodbye to my friends this way,” she joked, and it was Dan’s turn to laugh. He slid his arm around her as he lay down on his back and she found herself curling up to him, resting his head against his chest. 


	6. Chambre 218

“I want to see you again.”

Blair closed her eyes for an instant as Dan’s words seemed to linger in the air. She found herself wishing he’d said them about a half hour ago, or however long ago it had been since she seemed to have completely lost track of time. After their first time together, she had remained curled up next to Dan in the bed in Room 218 for she didn’t even know how long, their relaxed conversation covering everything from the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel Dan had been reading on the train to what it was like studying at Yale compared to what it was like studying at La Sorbonne. Blair had confessed to a slightly surprised Dan that her father had gone to Yale and it had once been her dream to go, too, and Dan had admitted that as much as he loved college there were times when he hated it. His hand had been resting on her hip, his fingers brushing against her skin the way they were now, and at some point they had stopped talking.

They had ended up tangled up in each other, her on her back with her legs wrapped around him and him leaning in close above her, murmuring under his breath between kisses about how good she felt. She wished he had said those words then, when their hips had been moving together as her head leant back into the pillow and he kissed his way up her collarbone and her neck. Their second time was different to their first. It was just as intense but slower, as if they were both intent on taking their time and savouring every moment. If he’d said those words amidst the moans she’d let out telling him she was getting close, or whispered them in her ear when she had been digging her fingers into his shoulders as she had come apart in his arms, then it wouldn’t have been a big deal. She could have simply dismissed them as words uttered in the throes of passion with no real meaning. Even if he’d said them straight afterwards, when they were lying side by side again with beads of perspiration across their foreheads, it still would have made things easier and she could have quite easily held the afterglow responsible. Instead, however, the words had tumbled out of his mouth just after they’d both caught their breath, when he’d rolled on his side for a moment to just look at her. She hated that he looked at her in a way she wasn’t sure anybody ever had before, and she hated that he’d said those words in a moment where she couldn’t run away from them.

“I realise it’s probably been a while since you got laid but you don’t have to travel all the way back to Paris for it to happen again, you know. I’m sure there’s at least one girl back in New Haven who’d be willing to sleep with you,” she said, looking back at him with raised eyebrows. She had deemed it best to deflect with a joke, but regretted it almost immediately when she realised how uncomfortable the thought of Dan with another woman made her feel.

“You know that’s not why,” Dan replied softly, causing a small smile to appear on Blair’s face, “Not that I’m not currently feeling very thankful towards my buddy back at my dorm who put those condoms in my bag. Even if he did tell me the solution to getting over Vanessa was to sleep with as many European girls as possible.”

“He sounds incredibly charming,” Blair remarked sarcastically.

Dan laughed and reached out to touch the side of Blair’s face with his hand. “You’d hate him,” he informed her, his thumb running gently over her cheek. Blair chuckled a little, but the look Dan was giving her again told her that she had been unsuccessful in her attempt at steering the conversation away from the statement she was desperate to avoid.

“Blair, I meant what I said,” Dan said softly, “It doesn’t change the fact that you were right about everything you said before. Practically, there’s no way we could ever happen. I know that, and I know you’ll probably think what I’m about to say is just romantic crap given that we only met yesterday, but I can’t get this image out of my head of us…I don’t know, just _together_. I have no idea how we could make it work or even if we could make it work, but I feel like if I just walk away from you then I’m going to regret for the rest of my life not having even tried. I just wanted you to know that’s the way I feel, but if you still want tonight to just be tonight then I understand. I mean…do you?”

Blair’s mouth opened slightly, but a sound wouldn’t come out. She wanted to say that she didn’t want it all to end tonight and that she wanted to see him again too, but the reality of the situation felt like one she couldn’t ignore. She had been mentally preparing herself to compartmentalise everything that had happened so she’d be able to look back on it as a magical night, but seeing each other again could completely change that. They could go on to discover that they didn’t really like each other very much, or Dan could even go on to hurt her, and the memory of the time they spent together in Paris would forever be tarnished.  “I don’t know,” she ultimately breathed. She saw Dan’s eyes light up, but no sooner had the words left her mouth than the moment was interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing somewhere over on the other side of the room.

Dan sighed, recognising the ringtone, and assured Blair he’d keep it brief as he slid out of bed. He walked over to his pants, where were still lying in a scrunched-up pile on the floor, and pulled his phone out of them to answer it. “Hi, Dad,” he said, trying to make his voice sound gravelly as if he’d just woken up. He returned to Blair’s side and found her sitting up in bed, her eyes wide following the realisation that Dan’s father was the one calling him.

“No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” Dan spoke into the phone, “Yeah, I’m good. Really good, actually. Paris ended up kind of taking my breath away. I don’t think I’ve ever been more thankful for a delayed flight.” Blair couldn’t help but smile even as she rolled her eyes at Dan’s slightly clichéd statement. She remained quiet as Dan continued his conversation, assuring his dad that the hotel he’d found was fine and that he was safe. Blair found herself absently wondering about the man on the other end of the line and whether he was anything like Dan, whether he would like her if he ever met her. She mused internally that _her_ father would probably like Dan if they ever got to know each other, and then almost immediately banished the thought from her mind, uncertain of how it had got there in the first place. She was grateful to be pulled out of her mental musings as Dan thanked his dad for something and hung up the phone after wishing him goodbye.

“I think we’re going back into real time, Dan,” Blair commented as she glanced from her side of the bed.

“Not just yet,” Dan replied, putting down the phone on the bedside table and breaking into a grin before leaning in for a kiss.

“You really ought to get some sleep,” Blair muttered with a smile, closing her eyes as Dan’s lips made their way down her jaw.

“I don’t want to sleep,” Dan murmured in return, “I’ll have plenty of time to sleep on the plane.” His kisses continued along her body to her breasts, and Blair found herself slowly leaning back against her pillow once more.

“Then what do you want to… _oh_ ,” Blair uttered, taking in a sudden sharp breath when Dan’s tongue dipped into her navel. She could hazard a guess at what he wanted to do and she figured she should get the question that was on her mind out of the way while her thoughts were still coherent. “What did your dad have to say?” she asked him softly.

“Hmm?” Dan said, lifting his head momentarily, “Oh, he just wanted to tell me that he checked for me and my flight’s been rescheduled for 9 AM tomorrow. Or today, I guess, probably.” As he finished speaking his mouth returned to her stomach and Blair bit down on her bottom lip slightly, smiling in anticipation. She wouldn’t have given his words a second thought, but his uncertainty over when it was reminded her that she had no clue of the time, either. She opened her eyes and they darted to the clock on the bedside table, which up until now she hadn’t even thought to look at.

“Dan, it’s 5 AM,” she told him, doing her best to conceal a small gasp as she felt his mouth along one of her inner thighs. Her tone had fallen serious enough, however, to make Dan lift his head again.

“So?” he asked her.

“So you’re going to want to be there at least two hours early although it really should be more, and you also need to factor in time to check out and get to the train station and then get the train to Roissy. The airport, I mean,” Blair clarified when Dan looked confused, adding with a sigh, “All of which means we should probably be leaving now.”

Dan looked at Blair for a few moments, blinking at her with a look of disbelief, before he hung his head in resignation. “I guess we really are back in real time,” he muttered, making his way back up her body again to kiss her tenderly on the mouth.

“If you think you’re disappointed imagine how I feel,” Blair teased, her hands having come to rest on either side of his face. He laughed a little but soon was looking at her in that way again that she hated but didn’t, his eyes full of hope. “I’ll come with you to the station,” she told him.

Dan and Blair left the bed to pick up various items of clothing dotted around the room, and once they were in their underwear they both helped each other look presentable again. Dan zipped up the back of Blair’s skirt while she busied herself with his trousers, both of them silent for the timebeing. Blair was soon sitting herself down on the edge of the bed to put her shoes on while Dan finished buttoning up his shirt.

“You’re going to regret not getting any sleep,” Blair informed Dan with a coy smile, “You’re flying coach, right? I can’t imagine you’ll be able to get any rest at all on the plane.”

“I really don’t see myself regretting it, somehow,” Dan replied with a chuckle, “Flying coach isn’t so bad. You ought to try it sometime.”

“Not if I can avoid it. I like to relax when I travel, thank you very much,” Blair retorted, “Then again, I suppose there are some things you can’t escape even in the quiet car in First Class on the train.”

“Ah yes, your friend the baby,” Dan teased, remembering back to the screaming child and mother who had walked through the bar car when he and Blair had been on the train the evening before. It seemed like such a long time ago to him now even though it had been less than a day.

“I should be grateful for that baby, though, really,” Blair mused, explaining further when Dan looked confused, “If the mother had been able to quieten him or her down, I wouldn’t have left for the bar. And I wouldn’t have met you.”

Dan looked up to meet Blair’s eyes with a smile that seemed to make her heart ache. He walked slowly over to where she was sat on the bed and began to slip on his own shoes. “I don’t know parents do it, honestly,” he mused, “I mean, I really like kids, but I can’t even fathom being a dad. I’d love to be one, someday, but I have a hard time picturing myself with a child even in the future. It’s hard to believe there are some people who have to face up to that kind of responsibility when they’re teenagers. I can’t even begin to imagine what that must be like.”

“I can,” Blair remarked quietly, glancing down at the ground.

“Right, of course,” Dan realised, “Your best friend.”

A look of confusion crossed Blair’s face for the briefest of moments before she spoke again. “Yeah,” she said, “It definitely wasn’t easy for her. I think…finding out you’re pregnant at that age forces you to make some very adult decisions even though you’re not an adult yet.”

“I bet,” Dan remarked with a small nod.

“And the whole time you know that anyone you tell will judge you,” Blair added. Her voice was catching in her throat and she still wouldn’t meet Dan’s eyes. “They’ll probably judge you for having sex, definitely judge you for getting pregnant in the first place,” she said, “They’ll judge you for thinking about getting an abortion, judge you for considering giving the baby up for adoption. If you choose the abortion then they see it as you taking the easy way out, but you know if you give up the baby for adoption they’re going to think you must be heartless for abandoning your child. And even if you keep the baby, you know they’re still going to judge you. You know that whenever you walk past people in the street with a stroller they’re all going to think to themselves how terrible it is that a girl has thrown her life away because she was careless. And everyone has an opinion. _Everyone_. Your friend who bought the pregnancy test for you, your mother, your father, the guy – or guys – you slept with. And the hardest thing to do is put all of that aside and just figure out what _you_ want. Because at the end of the day, if you carry it to term, it’s going to be _your_ child. Your…” Blair trailed off, staring resolutely at her shoes, and realisation suddenly dawned on Dan.

“Blair…” Dan spoke up very softly, “It wasn’t your best friend who got pregnant, was it?”

After a few moments of silence Blair finally did look up, her expression stony and resolute. Her jaw clenched slightly before she slowly shook her head from side to side.

“Blair, I am so sorry,” Dan breathed. He inched closer to her on the bed and took her hand, which had been resting on her lap, gently in his.

“Don’t be,” Blair told him, “I don’t regret it. I mean, I regret getting pregnant in the first place, but I don’t regret getting an abortion. I just…in the end I didn’t feel like I could justify bringing a child into the world when it wasn’t wanted, when I knew I wouldn’t be able to look after him or her the way they deserved. I didn’t want to give birth to a baby and resent them, because no child deserves that. A child deserves to be…wanted and loved. One day when I’m settled in my career and ready then I hope I can have a child, and I know that child will be.”

Dan offered Blair a small, comforting smile. “I’m sure they will,” he remarked, “Why…why did you tell me it happened to your best friend?”

“I don’t know. I guess I was afraid you’d judge me if I told you, so I thought I’d see how you reacted if I said it had happened to someone else,” Blair admitted, “She wasn’t the one who slept with two guys – I was. After I…got my revenge on my boyfriend and slept with his best friend, I decided that made us even and I got back together with him. He wanted to make amends – I guess his family was pressuring him to, or something – and I wanted to go back to something safe and secure so I told him I’d forgiven him and never told him what I did. I wouldn’t have had to if it weren’t for the fact that later I found out I was pregnant and by that time we’d finally had sex so I wasn’t sure if he was the father or if his best friend was.”

“So the rest of the story was all true?” Dan questioned, “Even the part where one of the guys told everyone?”

Blair nodded. “I don’t even know how it happened. I only told my boyfriend, and he was…as supportive as I could have expected him to be. But his best friend didn’t take it too well when he found out I’d been pregnant with what could have been his baby. That Basshole made sure everybody who mattered in school knew every detail,” she remarked, slowly shaking her head before meeting Dan’s eyes with the saddest of smiles, “You wanted to know why I left the US. I…I couldn’t face anyone at school after that so I called my dad and asked him if I could go live with him.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kept pushing you on that,” Dan said softly, “I had no idea.” It occurred to Dan somewhere in the back of his mind that if something like that had happened at his school – which it could easily have done – he probably wouldn’t even have noticed. If he had, he would have likely thought that the person who it happened to probably deserved it.

“It’s alright,” Blair uttered before smiling that same sad smile, “I told you there were some things you wouldn’t want to know about me.”

“Like what? That you made a completely human mistake in high school after your boyfriend hurt you? That you dealt with an extremely difficult situation with responsibility and maturity and made a decision that was the right one for you?” Dan questioned, “The only person in this scenario who I never want to get to know is the guy who shared very private information with other people purely out of spite. And my opinion of your boyfriend isn’t too high either, I have to admit. But you? I’m in awe of you.”

Blair tightened her grip on Dan’s hand that was still holding hers, looking at him in disbelief. She couldn’t find a way to express to him how she was currently feeling. “I think we need to go, Dan,” she whispered.

“Yeah, I guess we do,” Dan replied gently. He leant in and pressed a kiss to Blair’s temple, and this time when she smiled she no longer seemed sad. The two of them gathered their bags and the last of their things, and walked out of the hotel room hand in hand.


	7. Gare du Nord

“I swear I don’t usually eat these for breakfast. Well, not every day, anyway,” Blair affirmed, flashing a smile at Dan before she delicately took a bite from a bright green macaron. Dan chuckled and reached into the paper bag he was holding in one arm to pull out a still warm _pain au chocolat_ , which he then proceeded to bite into eagerly. It still wasn’t quite light yet and the streets of Paris were reasonably empty as he and Blair walked side by side en route to the train station, slowed down slightly by having to juggle carrying their bags and eating at the same time.

“Hey, I’m not judging,” Dan told Blair between bites, “By the way, did I mention what an inspired idea it was to stop by at a bakery? I can’t imagine what they serve on the airplane will be half as good as this. I wish I could take these back home with me for my dad and my sister to try them.”

“I thought I was meant to be the snob about flying,” Blair pointed out, playfully raising her eyebrows at Dan. He laughed again and acknowledged her comment with a ‘ _Touché_ ’, after which Blair found herself just watching him for a moment or two out of the corner of her eye before she spoke again. “Are they going to be there to meet you at the airport when you arrive home?” she asked, “Your dad and your sister, I mean.”

“Dad said he’d be there. My sister’s at home at the moment too so she might come along. If I’m lucky,” Dan replied, explaining further when Blair shot him an inquisitive look, “No, I’m kidding. We actually get along really well now. We always have done, I guess, apart from one period in high school where she…well, she got a little fixated with the idea of being popular and the two of us didn’t exactly see eye to eye.”

“When you’re a teenage girl it can seem like the most important thing sometimes. Especially in the US,” Blair noted, “And I’m guessing not having her mom around probably didn’t help things.”

“No, it didn’t,” Dan remarked with a sigh before glancing at Blair, “How did your mom take it? I mean, when you…”

“…told her I was pregnant?” Blair finished for him, shaking her head, “Not very well. Oh, she paid for me to have the abortion and made sure everything was dealt with quietly and under the radar, but she…she never looked at me the same after that. I guess that’s why when everything blew up I didn’t even hesitate to ask Daddy if I could come live with him. I still go visit her sometimes in the holidays and she comes here sometimes on business and stops by to see me, but it’s like she’s…part of some other world that I left behind a long time ago.”

“You don’t miss the US?” Dan asked, helping himself to one of the pastries this time out of the bag from the bakery.

“I miss the US all the time,” Blair admitted with a small smile, “It’s the really dumb things I miss, too. Like how the waiters and waitresses in restaurants always smile at you, even though I know they’re only after a good tip.” Dan laughed and nodded. “But whenever I go see my mom I’m always reminded of all the things I like about living here. People here are more relaxed, I think, maybe more at ease with themselves. They seem more inclined to enjoy each day as it comes. But then sometimes I miss the atmosphere back in the US, you know? That surrounding sense of ambition and drive,” Blair continued, “I guess in the end I feel like no matter where I live there’ll always be something missing.”

“You’re not the only one who feels that way, trust me,” Dan said, “You know, I dreamed of going to an Ivy League college for most of my life. My dad sacrificed a lot to make it happen and I appreciate so much having the opportunity to study there, I really do. I figure I should be happy, right? I keep getting told that I’m young, that I’ve got the whole world at my feet. But all I end up doing is feeling bad because despite all of that that I can’t help but want something else, something more, and I’m not even sure what it is.”

“You told me on the train you were looking for inspiration,” Blair remarked, turning her head to glance at Dan momentarily.

“I thought I was,” Dan replied softly.

Blair fell silent, running her tongue over her bottom lip momentarily and tasting the last of the macaron she’d eaten not long before. She hoisted her bag further up on her shoulder as she and Dan crossed the street, and then nodded her head towards the building they were approaching. “This is it,” she told him, “ _Gare du Nord_.”

“Already?” Dan questioned, looking slightly surprised, “I didn’t realise we were so close.”

“Neither did I,” Blair admitted quietly.

“I liked the other train station better,” Dan said, “What was it called? _Gare de Lyon_?”

“Not bad, Humphrey,” Blair remarked with a small smile, “I’m not a huge fan of the new part they’ve added to this place, but they’re both very nice train stations.”

“But I met you on my way to one of them,” Dan pointed out, “And I’m going to have to say goodbye to you at the other.”

The two of them made their way into the not yet busy train station and Blair stood to one side when Dan walked up to buy his ticket to the airport, ostensibly on standby in case he needed any help with translation. Even if Dan had been tying himself up in knots trying to speak French, however, Blair probably wouldn’t have noticed. Her gaze appeared to be fixated on a spot on the wall opposite her but her thoughts were most definitely elsewhere. She had a lot to think about, and she knew she was running out of time to think about it. Rationally, she kept telling herself that nothing had changed since she and Dan had met on the train the day before. She was still an American living and studying in Paris, Dan was still a Yale student with a dad and a sister waiting for him back home. They were still the same people leading the same lives, and the only thing that was different was that they had shared a night together. A night was just a night, she reasoned, not any kind of grounds to build anything on. With that in mind, the most sensible thing to do would be to let it go and keep it as a memory. But then, as hard as she tried, she couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that she was about to lose something.

She smiled a little at Dan when he returned with his tickets and remained quiet as they made their way to where the train was due to arrive, using her Navigo pass to allow her to get onto the platform with him. It didn’t take them long to find a couple of chairs and they sat down heavily together, with nothing to do but wait for the train that would cause them to go their separate ways. Blair found her eyes kept darting towards the nearest clock and the minutes felt as if they were ticking away far too fast.

“You’ll be OK to get back home, right?” Dan asked Blair, leaning forward slightly in his seat as one of his feet tapped against the floor, “You have enough cash for a cab back to your place? Or someone to come get you?”

Blair couldn’t help but smile a little. She knew Dan had to be aware by now that money certainly wasn’t an issue for her, yet he seemed concerned for her even so. “I’ll be fine,” she assured him, “I’ll probably be fast asleep in my bed by the time you’re checking in for your flight.”

“Good,” Dan said, smiling back at Blair, “Do you have a busy day today?”

“Not that busy. I’m supposed to be meeting a friend for lunch, but I might call and ask her to reschedule depending on how tired I am,” Blair replied, “She’s nice, but she’s just requires a lot of…patience to deal with and I might not have the energy for it today.”

“I have a friend who’s a bit like that,” Dan remarked, “He’s a cool guy, for the most part, but sometimes you just…”

“Dan,” Blair interrupted, her expression falling serious as she turned towards him in her seat. She took his hand in both of hers and Dan knew immediately she no longer wanted make small talk about the day ahead. “Dan, I…” Blair began, but before she could get out the next part of her sentence something in the distance caught her eye, “Your train is arriving.”

Dan turned to glance over his shoulder and his lips parted momentarily as he watched a small train get bigger and bigger on its approached their platform. He could do nothing but remain silent for a few moments, his feet feeling like they had suddenly turned to lead. Dan watched as Blair slowly stood to her feet, letting go of his hand only to subsequently offer up one of hers to help him up. He took it gratefully and, once he was standing, also took her other hand as they stood facing each other on the platform.

“Well, I guess this really is it,” Dan spoke up, trying to force a smile as he added jokingly, “No more hotel rooms for us to escape real time in.”

“I wish there were,” Blair replied quietly.

“I know…last time you didn’t want me to say anything because you thought it would make it harder,” Dan said, “But I just want to tell you that I…that you…God, I can’t even find the words to do justice to…”

“I want to see you again too,” Blair blurted out, and for a moment Dan could only blink at her, uncertain if he’d actually heard what he thought he’d heard.

“You do?” he breathed, looking at her in disbelief.

“Of course I do, you idiot,” Blair told him, a smile slowly appearing on her face, “I just…I don’t know what I was thinking. I was…confused and I didn’t want the memory of last night to be ruined, but right now I feel like the only thing that could ruin it would be if this ended up being the last time I ever saw you. I have no idea how or if we could make this work, either, but you’re right. We’re going to regret it if we don’t at least give it a shot.”

“Oh, thank God,” Dan uttered, right before leaning forwards and crashing his lips against Blair’s in a kiss. He could feel her smiling against his mouth as his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her close to him while train pulled up beside them at the platform.

“How are we going to do this?” he breathed as he pulled away, “Where do you want us to meet? I can try to come back here. I mean, I’m not exactly sure how, but I can…”

“No, don’t be ridiculous. I’ll come to the US. I tend to go back every now and then to see my mom, anyway,” Blair replied, her gaze darting worriedly between Dan and the train, “How…how far away from New York City are you?”

“Are you kidding me?” Dan said, looking at Blair with a furrowed brow and a disbelieving smile, “I live in New York.”

“What are you talking about?” Blair breathed.

“Well, I mean, I live in New Haven when I’m at college, obviously, but otherwise I live in New York,” Dan explained, “My dad’s house is in Brooklyn. It’s where I go back every time for the holidays.”

“I can’t believe you…I grew up in New York,” Blair said, her hands absently running over Dan’s arms, “My mom lives there with my stepfather. It’s where I went to school.”

 “This is crazy. How did we not realise this sooner?” Dan remarked, letting out a laugh, “OK, so what’s your favourite place to go in the city?”

“Umm…oh God,” Blair said, biting on her lower lip in thought for a moment before she looked at Dan and declared, “The Met.”

“Of course it is,” Dan replied, a grin seemingly permanently etched onto his face, “Alright, so, let’s say...when? A year from now?”

“A year’s too long,” Blair said, shaking her head, “Six months?”

“Four months,” Dan suggested, “It’ll be July, I’ll be done with finals and hopefully you’ll be done at school?”

“Four months,” Blair agreed, nodding her head as she smiled back at him, “I’ll meet you in four months on the steps of the Met. What time?”

“9 AM? I’m sorry, is that too early? I know you have to fly in and everything,” Dan said, “I just want…I want us to be able to spend the whole day together, and…”

“9 AM it is. I’ll fly in the night before,” Blair responded, the smile on her face only broadening, “You’d better be there.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Dan affirmed.

“You really need to work on those terrible clichés if you’re going to be a writer, Humphrey,” Blair teased, pulling Dan in for another kiss just as he grinned at her. Her arms wound around his neck and she had to will herself to break apart from him in order to look at the clock again.

“You have to go,” Blair breathed, “That train is going to leave without you.”

“I know, I know,” Dan muttered, pressing another quick kiss to her lips, “Good luck with everything, OK? With your life, with school… I’ll be imagining you getting amazing grades and being nothing short of very happy while I’m counting down the days until we can meet in New York.”

“You too,” Blair responded, “And look, I may never have met Vanessa, but I can tell you for certain that she isn’t worth being miserable over. You deserve to be happy.”

Dan couldn’t help but smile at Blair again. He felt his heart pound in his chest as he turned to look at the train, then at her again one more time. “Goodbye, Blair,” he said.

“Goodbye, Dan,” Blair replied. Her arms had loosened temporarily, but she wrapped them tightly around him once again as he drew her into a tight hug. His nose buried into her neck, catching a whiff of what she had told him in passing was Chanel No. 5, and her hand ran gently through the hair at the nape of his neck.

“Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

Dan wasn’t sure how he managed to pull himself away from Blair, or how his feet seemed to board the train of their own accord. As he stepped onto it, he turned around to see Blair smiling at him only a few moments before the doors closed and blocked his view. He felt his stomach lurch as the train began to move, and he deposited his luggage before quickly moving to find a seat. Fortunate enough to find a chair by the window, as Dan sat down he saw a brunette figure in an outfit he recognised still standing on the platform, watching his train go. His eyes remained focused on her until her features were no longer discernible and she was nothing more than a speck in the distance. Now that she was no longer there he could almost write her off as a daydream, as a delusion, but all he had to do was close his eyes as he leant his head back against his seat and she was there. He could see her face, he could hear her voice, he could smell her perfume, he could taste her lips, he could feel her skin against his. He felt as if he wanted to write it all down right at that moment so that he would never forget. She was so very real and she was becoming nothing but a memory, but in a few months’ time she would be his reality again.

In the ideal movie of Blair Waldorf’s life, she had pictured many different scenarios for how she might meet someone, but was certain she never could have imagined the events that had occurred since she’d boarded the train from Lyon to Paris. She’d never pictured the twist in her movie where she would up a conversation with a guy who turned out to be from her home city, no less, and that the hours they would spend together would be unlike anything she had ever experienced. She had watched Dan’s train until it was completely gone and stood on the platform for a few minutes after in silence, feeling a strange sense of longing, before she’d turned and headed towards the exit. Once she’d settled herself down in a cab and given the driver her address, she leant back against her seat and got her music player out of her bag to switch it on. It was still on Cyndi Lauper, which she realised was the last thing she’d been listening to.

_No one can move me the way that you do._

_Nothing erases the feeling between me and you_.

She definitely hadn’t anticipated this turn of events, but she already knew how the next part of the movie would go. She would meet Dan in July on the steps of the Met in her beloved home of New York City, and the two of them would find out together whether or not that would be their story’s end. For some reason, though, Blair suspected it would be a wonderful beginning.


End file.
